There is nothing like the sense of pride of finding out and loving a band before they make it big. It’s a combination of feeling edgy, visionary and above all it’s a nod to how “good” one’s music taste is. Before I can go into anything about the politics or music of Perfect Pussy, I must give a nod to my brother for forcing me to go see them in December of 2013 and for allowing me to walk around saying I saw them live months before Pitchfork decided to BNM their latest album or have them play their Pitchfork Fest. On a more personal note, Meredith Graves has to be one of my favorite people making music today. She has not once cared about speaking her mind and her whole idea about naming her band Perfect Pussy with the idea that image and judgment that permeate society should not be allowed to continue is awesome. Not to mention the first quote I ever saw from her in Pitchfork’s article on the band as they came to prominence was, “Are you going to call me a cunt? Are you going to tell me I’m ugly? Well, here’s my band name- do your worst, motherfucker.” On top of that she put her own menstrual blood into the first pressing of the vinyl and I honestly could not think of something more punk to do. With nods to both punk, noise rock and anything with post as a prefix not to mention the intense hardcore and grindcore scenes that exist, the harsh and violent sound and style the band embodies is fun and exciting without understanding the stances Graves takes on most important issues of the world. She cares about feminism, she cares about body image and she simply cares about being a decent human being. Her demeanor in the press and in person is one of both shy but fiercely passionate. On stage she never got on her soapbox and instead flung herself viscously around uttering her incomprehensible scream. But every time I see her in the media she is making sure her stances are well known. I sometimes feel like judging a band off of lyrics that are impossible to understand without a lyric book is giving a little too much credit to a band, but with Meredith and Perfect Pussy, their thrashing style is enjoyable for me to listen to no matter what they are saying and to then find out there is an incredible underlying message just makes it all taste a little bit sweeter.